


Sweet Boy

by LadyFrandrews



Series: Fathom [5]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 03:03:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19286806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyFrandrews/pseuds/LadyFrandrews
Summary: Karen's POV





	Sweet Boy

**Author's Note:**

> Ravenclaw90 you got me thinking...hope I didn't disappoint!

* * *

 

She knew how word traveled fast and skewed in a place like Hawkins.

 

She knows the kind of words that followed her around when she agreed to marry Ted.

 

He’s not a bad husband or a bad father. He’s just _older_. She knew what she was getting into.

 

She knew her children would be well taken care of if she married well, and to a man with a secure job until retirement (with great pension benefits for after he hit that age).

 

She knows that her daughter isn’t as innocent as she’d like her to believe. She knows exactly what happened the night she “spent” at Barb’s. She was young once. She knows what one person looks likes when they give up something that holds sentimental value only to be let down by the reality of it.

 

She hears the gossip around town of a new family. Hears the rumble of a car and squealing tires before she ever lays eyes on _him_.

 

 _He_ certainly wasn’t the same caliber as Steve, but he definitely seemed the type that could hold his own. And he _looked_ like he was _trouble_.

 

She knows her children like to keep their secrets. Even if they bring supposed FBI into their home. Mike’s not protective over anyone for nothing. Nancy’s too smart for her own good sometimes, but a mother knows her children. If they needed her help, they would ask.

 

She remembers opening the door in her robe, definitely not prepared for the sight of _him_. Definitely not with false worry for a sibling he couldn’t give two shits about.

 

She let him do this schtick, and she let herself feed into it. It was harmless and the boy was beautiful.

 

Ted teased her for days afterward. She’d do it again if it made their bedroom escapades a little more interesting that following week. As she said, she knew what she was getting into before she agreed to marry him.

 

But she knows all about boys like _him_.

 

 _Sweet_ boys who hide behind bravado and assholery. Their barks don’t match their bites.

 

Boys like Billy Hargrove wilted and died if stuck in places like Hawkins. She knows because she has friends that were just like him growing up.

 

They got out. They lived their true lives. Their best lives.

 

She hopes _he_ gets out. _Lives_ his life.

 

Steve didn’t surprise her per se. She wasn’t shocked when the pieces finally clicked, but it didn’t seem too far fetched either.

 

Steve loves with all he has. She knows Nancy was lucky to be loved by a heart like that. Especially for a supposed first love, but she’s fairly certain Jonathan will be a better fit for her.

 

Just like she thinks _he’s_ a better fit for Steve. It’s all about balance.

 

She hates to admit it took as long as it did for the pieces to click into place, but hindsight is always 20/20.

 

She knows that Max and Jane had a hand in getting the two to admit their feelings. It involved that Dragons and Dungeons game they play downstairs.

 

It wasn’t as weird as she thought it would be that Steve started hanging out at the house again with the kids.

 

Word travels fast around Hawkins. He’s apparently a very popular babysitter with the kids. Joyce and Claudia have nothing but praise for him. Even Erica Sinclair asks for him to babysit her and Lucas. And everyone knows how picky Erica is about her babysitters.

 

Jane requested Billy’s presence for a few games. Said something about needing one more character type or something. She just knows that Billy can’t tell her no. It’s cute.

 

She’s listened to one game in particular. It was getting loud and very passionate with the commentary. Billy’s character had to either sacrifice everyone else to save Steve’s, or kill him to proceed. There was a lot of yelling before everyone but Steve and Billy stomped upstairs for a break.

 

According to Will, Billy didn’t even hesitate to kill everyone else. Mike says there wasn’t hesitation, but there was a little bit of remorse. Jane and Max just smiled when they came up for a snack break. Lucas told them that anything Jane and Max did together, they were a force to be reckoned with.

 

Dustin though, his reaction was subdued. Now she knows that he was figuring out what apparently Jane and Max already knew about the two. She did have to reprimand him when he blurted out his usual, “son of a bitch!” But she understood. It was something to take in.

 

She knew she uttered the same phrase when the pieces finally clicked for her.

 

She’d overheard Steve and Nancy talking in her room one evening after both had gotten off work. He was still in that silly uniform from Scoops.

 

They were talking about love and feelings and how they knew and she realized that they did love each other but it was never the kind of love like your first love. It was a profound love because that kind of love just doesn’t happen in your life. The kind where you can give each other everything you have and still remain friends after, that’s rare.

 

She knew Nancy was talking about Jonathan, but she couldn’t figure out who Steve was talking about. Not until he mentioned something about blue eyes and pouty mouth and her mind immediately went to that night when Billy was looking for Max--eating that damn cookie.

 

She dropped the towel in her hands that she was folding and sat down. Not entirely out of shock because she knew that Billy was a _sweet_ boy. She’d just never thought _that_ about _Steve_.

 

Then she got right back to business because it shouldn’t matter. But she’d keep an eye on Steve. She also knows how boys like Billy, having to keep who they are a secret, react when rejected, or unprepared for feelings. In the beginning it could be rocky and not always in a good way.

 

She saw what he did to Steve’s face. She knows it was out of misplaced anger, but that rage just doesn’t sit and simmer for no reason. It’s built up and built up and there’s always a source. She hopes Billy gets away from it before it consumes him further.

 

So she watched whenever she could. If she caught them out together in public, she watched them. If they were in the house at the same time, or even out on the curb dropping off and picking up--which they seemed to time perfectly before they apparently became an official item.

 

She liked watching a light appear in Billy’s eyes that wasn’t there before. She liked seeing the tension in Steve’s shoulders relax. And those bags under both of their eyes slowly dissipate.

 

She loved the smiles they gave to each other the most. You can’t fake those kinds of smiles.

 

She also listened closely while out running errands. Making sure that no one spoke ill of either boy. Make the wrong kind of assumptions that would be true, but not entirely welcome in a place like Hawkins. And no one needed to know about those boys. It wasn't their business.

 

She listened to the kids, The Party, as they call themselves, talk about it when Steve formally asked Billy to be his boyfriend. Mike said Will and Jane cried. Happy tears apparently. Dustin and Max high-fived each other and took five bucks each from Lucas. They’d made a bet on who’d make the first move.

 

She knew it wouldn’t have been Billy. Boys like him appear tough and like they would make the first move, but in actuality, they need love the most. It’s not that they’re afraid, they just want to make sure that the other person is true. They don’t want to be hurt unnecessarily.

 

She wonders how Steve did it. She’ll ask him about it one day. When they’re comfortable with people outside of The Party knowing. But she loves the support the kids are giving Steve. And Billy.

 

She still feeds the cheesy flirting Billy does when he comes by. Knows it’s still an act, just like it was that first time. Ted still teases her about it, in a way they both like.

 

She’ll welcome them to her home for as long as they’re going to come. She’s started to hear whispers that Billy wants to go back to California. Max grumbles that it’s not fair he gets to go back. Dustin reminds her that they can always visit.

 

She wonders if Steve will go with him. Or if he’s why he’s going--getting that extra push needed to get out.

 

When word finally reaches her that, “that Harrington boy” left town, she knew they were headed west. She didn’t ask if he was alone. Nancy told her everything the next day. She didn’t even have to ask. Mothers just know.

 

She hopes they  _live_ their lives.


End file.
